


you got my heart (don’t know how you did it)

by brightbluelou



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, Growing Up, M/M, Pre-The X Factor Era, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, The X Factor Era, Zayn and Louis are best friends, and louis is a little bit too full of questions, this is mainly about louis btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-27 14:22:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5051860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightbluelou/pseuds/brightbluelou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis has seen one torn-up relationship too many to still believe in happy ever afters. However, for someone who doesn’t really believe in soulmates, he sure has a lot of questions about it. </p><p>Or; the one where everyone has a necklace counting down to the day they meet their soulmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you got my heart (don’t know how you did it)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really not very happy with this, but this has been sitting in my documents for soooo long and I didn't want the time spent on it to go to waste so I decided to post it anyway. (This is also un-beta'd, I'm very sorry!) It was written way before Zayn and Perrie split up and before Zayn left the band, so that's why their relationship is still in here.
> 
> I hope that you like it, even though I'm not sure about it.
> 
> (Title is from The Way by Ariana Grande.)
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own One Direction (obviously)

 

When Louis turns twelve and gets a necklace for his birthday, he is very confused. Necklaces are a _girly_ thing. Louis is not a girl. He likes skateboarding and football, so according to him, he’s definitely a boy. 

Louis’ mum laughs when he says as much. “Oh silly boy, jewellery isn’t just for girls, it’s for everyone! And anyway, this isn’t just a normal necklace.”

Louis looks down in confusion at the little box in his hands. The necklace looks pretty normal to him. It’s a little transparent gem, dangling on a thin leather cord. He doesn’t get it. “I don’t get it, mum.”

His mum smiles and crouches down beside him, carefully taking the necklace out of the box. “Look really closely at it… Can you see the gold in it?”

Louis squints his eyes. And then he sees it. It’s almost as if there’s something written in it. Something looking like a number. “It says 2.213, doesn’t it? What does that mean?” When Louis looks up again, he sees his mum wiping a tear from her cheek. He frowns at that and opens his mouth, but his mum shakes her head softly.

She explains him than. She tells him all about soulmates, and what exactly the necklace means. Apparently, everyone receives one when they turn twelve. It looks almost the same for all people: a simple transparent, little stone with a golden number in it.

Louis thinks the golden swirls look very fragile, almost as if they are woven into the gem, but he can’t deny that it looks kinda pretty.

The golden number in the stone indicates the number of days left ‘till you meet your soulmate. It changes every day, like a proper countdown. And then finally, when you do meet your soulmate, the gem turns into the exact colour of your soulmate’s eyes.

It’s a pretty story, Louis thinks. But it almost sounds a bit unreal. His eyes immediately go to his mums neck, to see if she’s wearing her necklace. He’s only slightly disappointed when he doesn’t see one.

Louis still has a lot of questions, but he is a bit overwhelmed, and at the moment, he just really wants to put it on. His mum sheds some more tears as she puts in on, and Louis is a bit worried, but she reassures him that it’s all happy tears. Happy tears, because her little boy is really growing up. (Louis protests that he isn’t a little boy, but his mum doesn’t seem to listen to that.)

 

-

 

Over the next few years, Louis’ questions don’t go away. When he turns 15, he is still very sceptical about the whole concept, and his best friend Zayn surely has heard all his doubts and theories about it by now. 

“I think the whole ‘soulmates’ thing is a scam. I mean, it must be, right?” Louis voices his thoughts for about the hundred time in the past few months.

Zayn just pulls up his eyebrows. “What makes you say that?” He doesn’t even look slightly convinced.

Louis sighs and rolls his eyes. “It can’t be. Like, if soulmates are real, then why do all my mum’s relationships suck?”

It’s true, is the thing. Johanna Darling hasn’t been particularly lucky with her love life. When she was twenty, and there were 20 days to go ‘till the day she’d meet her soulmate, her necklace turned pitch-black. There’s only one explanation when your necklace turns black; your soulmate has died.

A year later, Jay met Troy Austin, a guy who was to meet his soulmate in 2 days. Apparently, he wanted to enjoy ‘his last days as a free man’. They hooked up, and nine months later Louis followed out of that little mistake. (Although Louis’ mum refused to call it a mistake. “Someone like you could never be a mistake, I don’t regret you for even a second.”)

Johanna’s love life was then uneventful for a while. She was raising Louis on her own, and was doing a good job on it. Then, when Louis was about 5 years old, she met Mark. Mark still had a counting necklace, but was years away from meeting his mate. He and Johanna fell in love. In the following years, Louis’ four sisters were born, and Mark and Johanna were still as in love as when they had first gotten together. However, Mark’s soulmate-meeting day was nearing, and despite claiming for years that he would destroy his necklace before the day, he still hadn’t done it. Two weeks after he promised it one last time, he met his match. Another week later, he left.

“She seems happy now, doesn’t she?” Zayn questions.

Louis huffs. “Yeah, but how long’s that gonna last? It’s- It’s just so unfair, you know? She is so, so wonderful… She didn’t deserve this!”

It’s true though, Louis’ mum really seems happy these days. She has been in a steady relationship for two years now, with a guy named Dan. Dan didn’t wear his necklace anymore. When he was 28 years old, the golden number on it had disappeared, and from then on, it was just a plain, transparent stone. This indicated that his soulmate had destroyed their necklace, probably choosing to live their life with another person. That’s the thing; no matter what your necklace says, you still have a _choice_.

Louis has thought a lot about destroying his own necklace, but in the end, he always chickens it. What if soulmates do exist? Yes, he wnts to able to chose the person he spends his life with, but the fear that he’ll end up alone is just overpowering.

“I still don’t really get how the necklaces work, though,” Louis says frustrated.

Zayn sighs, knowing that now Louis started talking about it, he won’t shut up any time soon. “What is it this time?”

Louis pokes Zayn in the stomach at that. “Don’t be so rude, Zayn-y, I have the right to think about this is a lot.”

Zayn just pointedly looks at him.

Louis sighs. “Okay, so, what happens when you meet your soulmate, but like- at the moment, you don’t realise it and you only notice later on…” He’s sitting up straight now. “Like, maybe you don’t remember them at all later and suddenly your necklace has changed and- What do you do then?!”

Zayn frowns. “Don’t know, man. It’s not that I’m so experienced.. But I guess they just start counting down again, no? That would be the most logical thing, counting down to the moment you meet them again.”

Louis frowns and then nods. “Yeah, I- I suppose that makes sense.”

 

-

 

It’s late at night and the only thing Louis notices is that it is _loud_. He can barely make out Zayn in front of him as they try to make their way through the crowd.

Louis is high on adrenaline, still feeling the music pump through his veins. His hair is sticking to his forehead due to him sweating, but he can’t help but feel so, so _alive._

Five months ago, it seemed surreal that this was really going to happen. He had been counting down the days to tonight for _ages_ , ever since Zayn managed to get his hands on the tickets. And now, even when it was over, it still seems so unreal. Like he hasn’t just seen his favourite band in concert, like he hasn’t just been rocking out to _The Script_.

When Zayn surprised Louis with the tickets for his 17th birthday, nothing had kept Louis from screaming out from joy. He had been fan for _ages_ and he’d _finally_ get to see them live.

For the moment, they’re trying to get out of the arena before the crowd, so they’ll have a quick ride home. In theory, it should’ve been a good plan… If only the rest of the crowd wasn’t trying to do the same.

Louis isn’t really watching other people, he’s just trying to keep up with Zayn, who manages to sneak through the mass of people so fluently that Louis struggles to keep up. Louis isn’t really watching other people, so he bumps into them rather a lot. And Louis isn’t really watching other people, causing him to crash into someone so hard that they spill their drink all over themselves.

Louis is quick to stammer out an apology, but doesn’t get the time to get a proper look at the poor lad ‘cause Zayn finally seems to have caught on on the fact that Louis can’t follow and pulls him further through the busy crowd. The only thing that Louis managed to see, is a quick flash of stunning green, wide eyes.

It isn’t until later, when they’re sitting in a taxi on their way home, that Zayn suddenly gasps. Louis looks up in surprise at him, and finds Zayn staring at his neck. Frowningly, he looks down and then he’s gasping too. He quickly pulls his necklace over his head to take a good look at it.

It’s changed. The golden swirls that normally form a number, have disappeared and the always clear, see-through gem has turned into a beautiful green colour.

Louis does the only thing that seems rational in this situation; he panics.

“Zayn, what the fuck?! What does this mean?” He almost shouts. “I haven’t met anyone, why did it change colours? Did I do something wrong?!”

Zayn worryingly bites his lip. “I- I don’t know Louis. I guess your soulmate was in the crowd or something? Maybe you passed by them and didn’t notice them?”

He pats his arm to calm him down. “Don’t worry, mate. I’m sure it’ll be alright. It- It’ll probably start counting down again soon.” Zayn says.

 

When Louis wakes up the next morning, his necklace is back to number 238.

 

-

 

“I’m so, so nervous Lou! What if they don’t like me? I mean… Maybe they’re like, really racist or something?” Zayn’s voice sounds strained.

Louis rolls his eyes. “Zayn, calm your tits please. I’m sure you’ll be fine!” He pats Zayn’s back. “If they weren’t right for you, they wouldn’t be your soulmate.” He says, echoing the things that Zayn always says himself, because Louis wouldn’t know; he’s still convinced that soulmates don’t really exist.

Zayn sighs. “I- I suppose your right. It’s just… It’s so close now. According to my necklace; it’s less than a _week_ until I meet them.”

Louis snorts. “Well, at least your necklace doesn’t randomly change into a colour.”

This time around, Zayn is the one rolling his eyes. “Your necklace didn’t change randomly, Lou. Your soulmate must have been close or something.”

And Louis wants to believe him. He really, really wants to. He’s just not sure if he _can_.

“I should just get it over with and destroy the damn necklace,” Louis then sighs. He’s not sure if he’s being serious.

Zayn’s eyebrows draw together and then he reaches out to slap Louis against his arm. “Don’t do that,” Zayn says, and Louis can count the times he’s seen Zayn looking so serious on one hand.

Louis bites his lip, but keeps silent.

“Seriously Lou, don’t do it, okay?” Zayn says, and his voice sounds weirdly strained. “My uncle destroyed his necklace a few days before he was supposed to meet his match, and he’s always told me how much he _regretted_ it, because he keeps thinking, even after all these years, of what it could have been.”

That, for some reason, makes Louis feel uneasy. He shakes his head slowly and looks down. “Yeah alright, I won’t do it,” he says. “I probably wouldn’t have the guts to do it, either way,” he then laugs, and Zayn soon enough agrees.

 

Four days later, Zayn meets Perrie.

Louis is happy for him, really. But he also feels like he’s kinda lost his best mate, even though he still sees him nearly every day. It’s jealousy, probably.

Zayn meeting his soulmate, hasn’t changed much for Louis. Zayn seems to have hoped that seeing someone meet their soulmate, would change Louis’ mind about it.

(It hasn’t.)

 

-

 

There's a boy. Louis is standing in a massive line, and there's a boy that he can't stop staring at him, no matter how hard he tries. 

His face is surrounded by messy brown curls and Louis can see his eyes shimmering from where he's standing. There are at least 200 people in between them, so that's honestly saying something about the brightness of his eyes. He's currently being interviewed in front of the camera and Louis immediately understands that he is the one to watch; he hasn't even heard him sing yet, but by the look of it, he's charming the pants of anyone standing near him. So Louis knows, right then and right there: this one's gonna make it. He's gonna make it _big_.

And the thing is, Louis isn't even jealous. This boy deserves it. God, what is going on with him? He's never even spoken to the guy or been within a distance of 10 feet from him, yet he can't help feeling warm inside, just from looking at this boy. Louis decides then: this isn't healthy. He averts his gaze.

When he looks up again a few minutes later. The boy isn't in sight anymore. He's disappeared in the crowd and that will probably be the last Louis sees of him. Except for on television, of course, 'cause this guy; he has something special and he's gonna get far.

 

-

 

The first time Louis notices the two boys, is when they have dance classes. They're standing close to each other and are continually shooting looks at one another that scream: I fucking love you.

It's only when Louis wants to point them out to Zayn, who's also made it through, that he notices that Zayn isn't beside him anymore and that he probably hasn't been for a while.

Louis' worries about his best friend don't last long, because a mere few moments later, Zayn steps into the room again, flanked by the almighty Simon Cowell. What the hell did he do?

 

-

 

Louis almost forgets about the two boys, but he notices them again when he's sitting down and eating for what feels like the first time in forever. (It's actually only been around six hours, but bootcamp is fucking exhausting.)

In fact, Louis notices them because they're making their way to the very same table Louis is sitting at with Zayn.

"Hey, is it alright if we sit with you?" The blond one asks as soon as they reach the table. His accent is thick and heavy. Irish then, no doubt.

Louis and Zayn both nod and the two new boys sit down. The one that looks like a puppy immediatly sticks out his hand towards Louis. 

"I'm Liam," he says, as he continues to shake both Louis' and Zayns hand. "And the Irish one over here is Niall." He points to the blonde beside him, the fond basically spatting from his eyes.

Louis smiles. "'M Louis, and the quiet one beside me is Zayn." Zayn pokes him in the ribs. "Shut it, Tomlinson." Louis just laughs.

It's quiet for a bit, as the four of them start eating. 

It's then that Louis sees the necklace around Liam's neck. The necklace of which the stone has a familiar blue colour. In fact, Louis pretty sure he only just saw that colour before. One look at Niall confirms his thought; Niall’s eyes are exactly the same vibrant blue, and when Louis looks down to his neck, he can see the brown coloured stone that matches Liam's eyes.

Louis is so surprised that he immediately comments on it. "You guys are soulmates?" He blurts out. He bites on his lip; he definitely didn't mean for that to come out.

Neither Liam nor Niall look offended though. Niall nods and smiles widely. "Last time I checked, yeah." 

Liam softly laughs and then throws his arm around Niall's shoulder. "We actually met at auditions last year, but we both didn't get very far, so we decided to try out together this year. It worked out pretty great so far." His eyes barely leave Niall the whole time he speaks.

"That's so cool, mate." Zayn says, "I met my girl a few months ago. Amazing feeling when you finally meet them, isn't it?" Niall and Liam instantly nod in agreement, but Louis just groans.

He feels left out, and he tells them as much. "I'm feeling left out now, you know. Spare a thought for us single people, will you?"

Nobody really reacts to that. Niall just grins widely and Liam shrugs. Zayn is too used to this right now, and he pretends he didn’t hear Louis.

It’s then that – out of the corner of his eye – Louis spots the curly boy he saw at their first audition. He’s sitting at one of the tables with some other contestants, and is laughing so hard that Louis can almost pretend to hear it, even though he’s on the complete other side of the room.

He loudly scrapes his throat when he notices that all three boys at his table are now staring at him. The stares don’t stop. “What?!” He finally says loudly.

Zayn chuckles. “Did someone catch your eye, mate?”

Louis is pretty sure his cheeks are turning pink, but he remains calm. “No, actually, just looking.”

No one believes him, obviously.

“So…” Niall says after a few beats of silence, and then he looks at Louis. “How long ‘till you meet your mate, buddy?”

Louis frowns. “I- I’m not sure actually. I don’t check my necklace that much, you know?” It’s true. Louis would actually like to forget that the necklace exists.

Niall, Liam and Zayn don’t really seem to know what to say to that, so Louis abruptly changes the subject and starts talking about what they’ll still have to do that day.

It’s later, when he’s lying in his bed - tossing and turning ‘cause he can’t sleep – that he keeps replaying Niall’s question in his head. _‘How long ‘till you meet your mate?’_

Louis hasn’t as much as looked as his necklace in at least a couple of months, but it’s right then that he decides that it’s about time that he faced his fears and just checked the stupid necklace.

Nothing could prepare him for the little gold _‘1’_ that’s now standing on his necklace, though.

 

-

 

Louis is nervous. His hands feel clammy and his heart feels like it’s beating out of his chest.

His last day at bootcamp has literally _flown_ by. In approximately an hour, they’ll find out if they’re through to the next round, and Louis is shitting his pants.

In fact, he’s so nervous that he’s gone ahead and locked himself in one of the bathrooms.

He’s not sure if it’s the results he’s nervous for, even though he can barely admit that to himself. Instead, he’s spent the last ten minutes staring a hole in his necklace, which now reads more clearly than ever a _zero_.

Louis shakes his head and stand up from where he’s seated on the closed toilet lid.

Why is he even stressing about this? He doesn’t even believe in this whole soulmate-thing. (Maybe he believes it more than he likes to admit.)

He should go back. Zayn is probably looking for him, and there still has to be some filming down.

He slowly unlocks the door and swings it open.

 _“Shit,”_ He hears a deep voice say.

Louis immediately steps out to look what he’s done, and his eyes are immediately drawn to the curly haired boy that’s now lying on the ground.

 _Oops_. Maybe he shouldn’t have swung the door open that hard, since it obviously hit someone.

It’s only then that Louis notices who that _someone_ is. And yeah, of course. Of course, he had to hit the prettiest boy in the whole competition with the door in his face.

He’s not sure what to say.

“Oops?” the boy says, and Louis can sigh in relieve because maybe he didn’t knock this boy out after all.

“Hi,” Louis says after a long pause, and he’s almost embarrassed of how squeaky he sounds.

The boy looks up then, and Louis swears he’s never seen eyes this green before. The boy just stares up at Louis, seemingly a bit in trance, and then slowly blinks.

Louis awkwardly reaches out his hand to help him up. “Sorry about that,” he says carefully, “I should have been a bit more careful.”

The boy laughs, and Louis almost swoons when he sees dimples pop out. (Who is this fucking guy?) “That’s quite alright. I’m quite clumsy, so this was probably my fault anyway.”

Louis is about to protest, but then Harry takes his hand to pull himself up, and Louis _swears_ he can feel sparks ignite all over his body.

“Thanks,” the boy says then, not loosing his grip on Louis’ hand, even though he’s standing on his two feet again now.

Louis blinks and then smiles. He’s about to introduce himself, but Curly – Louis will call him that for now, since he doesn’t know his name - isn’t really paying attention to him. Instead, he seems to be staring at Louis’ stare. His eyes are wide open, and Louis can’t get over how _beautiful_ this boy is.

Louis feels his cheeks flush, and then he looks to what the boy’s staring at.

Louis’ not sure what happens in the few seconds after that. Because Curly is looking at Louis’ necklace. Louis’ necklace, that doesn’t have a number on it anymore, but instead has changed in a soft and bright green colour.

His eyes immediately fly to the other boy’s necklace, and he breaths out in relief when he notices that it is a bright and light blue. The exact same blue of Louis’ eyes.

Curly looks up to Louis again. There’s a big smile on his face, and his green eyes look a bit teary.

"You had me waiting quite a while..." The boy says with a pout on his face.

Louis feels as if though someone is tugging on his heartstrings. (It might be the beautiful boy in front of him.) He bites his lip in anticipation and a smile makes its way to his face. "I'm Louis," he says, and he’s surprised at how easy he’s suddenly able to talk.

The curly-haired boy grins. "I'm Harry, and I have a feeling we're going to spend a lot of time together."

Louis' smile widens. "I can't wait." He says, and he means it with every ounce of his being.

And maybe, Louis thinks, happy ever afters do exist after all.

(Neither of them manages to get through to judges houses, but neither of them really cares either, because at least they found each other)

 

-

 

**Epilogue.**

 

Harry walks in with little Mia on his hip, who is wearing a cute pink dress, and Louis nearly swoons at the sight of them. The moment Mia notices Louis, her eyes widen and her face brightens. "Papa!" She cries out excitedly.

Louis smiles and gives her a short kiss on her nose. "Good morning, princess! Come on, take your seat at the table, today is a very special day!" He grins and wiggles his eyebrows. Mia laughs happily, as if she understands what Louis is talking about. Harry puts her down in her chair before making his way to the kitchen.

Charlie, who's already sitting on his chair at the table, looks up at Louis, clearly full of curiosity. "Why is today a special day, papa? I know it is Liv's birthday, but that isn't that special. I mean, it was my birthday too last month!"

Louis leans closer towards him, as if he's going to tell a secret. "Well, young man, your big sister is getting her necklace today."

Charlie gasps and actually clasps both of his small hands in front of his mouth. (He is the cutest little boy on earth, Louis is positive that that has been scientifically proven.) He looks at Louis with widened eyes and slowly lowers his hands again. "You mean her special necklace?" He whispers. Louis solemnly nods, which makes Charlie squeal. "That's so cool!"

Charlie turns to Harry then, who has just returned from the kitchen with fruit for Mia. "Daddy, can I have my necklace today too?"

Harry smiles. "Sorry baby-boy, not yet. You're not twelve yet."

Charlie grumpily pouts. "'M not a baby, daddy, I'm seven already!" He holds up seven of his little fingers, as if to prove it. "Seven is very close to twelve!" 

Louis laughs then. "That's true, Charlie, but not close enough." Charlie just pouts again and pushes a spoon of his cereals with milk into his mouth with a little more force then necessary.

Louis wraps his arms around his husband’s waist and smiles when Harry leans in into the touch. "Is Lavender up yet?" Louis asks softly.

Harry nods, "Yeah, she'll be coming down soon, she was searching for the 'perfect accessories' to go with her shirt."

"Taking after you, that one." Louis huffs.

Harry just shrugs in reply. "Nah, I think it's got more to do with her age. I mean, ten is a pretty critical age."

That's the moment Lavender walks into the room and plops down in her chair. "Morning papa and dad!" She says cheerfully, and she blows a quick kiss to the both of them.

"Shall I call the birthday-girl then?" Louis says, and he is met with the sight of three of his children nodding in excitement. "Olivia! Time to come down, sweetheart!" Louis calls out.

Olivia stumbles down the stairs a mere few seconds later, wearing her newest dress for the occasion. She smiles widely when she's greeted by five people calling out 'Happy birthday!’ “. 

She quickly gives her dad's both a kiss on the cheek and then sits down on her chair, which is decorated with colorful little flags and balloons. (All Harry's work, of course.)

"So, first breakfast, right?" Louis says jokily. Olivia doesn't really think it's funny, judging by the daggers she shoots at her dad. "Not funny, papa. Can I pleaaaaase have it?"

Harry, however, joins Louis in on the joke. "But I made chocolate-chip pancakes, love, they're your favorite!"

Olivia glares at the both of them now and groans, but then she starts pouting. "Pretty, pretty please?" And yeah, okay, Louis was never really resistant to the pleading look in her eyes that he had so often seen with his husband.

Louis shows his hands from behind his back, revealing a little package in golden wrap with a little bow on it. (Harry's work, again.) 

Olivia’s breath seems to have caught in her throat, and Louis jokingly reminds her to keep breathing. (Olivia doesn’t think it’s funny.) 

Louis had expected her to just rip the package open, but instead, she’s carefully taking the paper apart.

When she finally opens the little box and takes the necklace out of it, she sighs deeply. “It’s so pretty,” she whispers softly. 

She quickly looks to her dads. “Thank you so much, I love you both very much a lot.” Then all her attention is back on the necklace in her hands.

Olivia stares at the four little numbers on her necklace and smile. "That's still so long though!" She pouts. 

Harry just shrugs and looks at Louis. "Maybe. But believe me, it's a wait worth every single second."

(And if Louis cries a little bit when he puts on her necklace, no one really has to know.)

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are very, very much appreciated and make me smile!
> 
> Feel free to talk to me about my fics (or about whatever, really) on tumblr or twitter ;)
> 
>  **tumblr:** [brightbluelou](http://brightbluelou.tumblr.com)  
>  **twitter:** [brightbluelou_](http://twitter.com/_colourthesky)


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